82 



The Natuealist. 



House Martin. — Mr. J. S. Rowntree (Scarboro') sends us the 

 following : — " On Sunday, 13th November, which was a fine spring-like 

 day, there was seen at the south end of the ClifFe Bridge grounds, half-a- 

 dozen of the common house-martin. They remained in that locality the 

 whole of the day, hawking after the flies, which appeared to be abundant 

 under the shelter of the cliff. It is a very extraordinary circumstance to 

 see one of the hirundines so late as November, as they have generally 

 all disappeared by the middle of October. The appearance of so many so 

 much beyond the time of their usual migration opens up the question as 

 to whether the whole tribe do migrate, and whether those seen have not 

 been hibernating;; since the close of summer, and that the remarkably 

 warm and genial weather of the last few days has quickened them into 

 active life again before the usual period." 



Natural History Notes. — 



Beverley, 3rd Nov. — My morning has been spent in watching 

 a waxwing {Bomhycilla garnda), which for some days past has taken 

 up its quarters in the surrounding trees. Its favourite perch 

 is a hawthorn tree, within a very few yards of my window, and it 

 is now in full view as I am writing. It is a timid bird, erecting its 

 magnificent crest and looking around at the slightest noise, but is not 

 shy, as the public road is quite near, and spends its time, when not 

 pruning its feathers or eating the haws, in making short flights of a few 

 yards in the air, hovering a few moments on the wing, and then returning 

 to the tree it left, very much after the manner of a grey flycatcher. So 

 far I have heard no note. I hear of a small flock in the adjoining West- 

 wood, and I conjecture that it was blown across in the same gale of wind 

 which probably brought over the rustic bunting noticed in the November 

 Naturalist. — N. F. Dobree. 



— Beverley, 10th Nov. — Much to my astonishment, I have been shown 

 by a local collector two specimens — male and female — of Dasypolia 

 templi, captiu-ed here within the last fortnight. They were taken on 

 difi'erent evenings — one on a street-lamp outside, the other on a wall 

 within the glare of a gaslamp in the middle of the town. No previous 

 record of such a capture exists here, nor even in the East Riding, so far 

 as I know. Has not the West Biding been supposed ts have the 

 monopoly of the insect ? — N. F. D. — [The late Mr. T. Wilkinson used to 

 breed D. Templi from larvas taken in Heracleum Sphondylium at Scar- 

 borough.— G. T. P.] 



Entomological Notes. — 



Thursday, 20th October last, being a fine day, I and a friend 

 paid a visit to Edlington Wood, near Doncaster, thinking, no doubt, it 

 would be the last visit this year. The wood presented a delightful 

 appearance, the foliage of the oak, beech, birch, &c., shewing all the 

 delightful golden-russet, autumnal tints, contrasting finely with the 

 sombre yew, loaded with its bright red berries ; also the spindle tree, 



